Tonight I created 3 RP Cubes that work. Go me.

In a nutshell, these allow you to remotely control the flash power for Nikon speedlights from a RadioPopper JrX Transmitter. I was dreading this project a bit b/c it involved having to solder wires into a 1.8 plug. However, it was much easier than I thought it would be.

Gotta say though, I am still a bit nauseous from the solder fumes.

More info on this DIY here:

http://lightandpixels.com/2009/11/06/radiopopper-jrx-cube-diy/

Selling the D90 was an interesting process.  I’ve typically used eBay to pawn off my used stuff in the past. However considering the market value of the camera, I didn’t feel like having eBay/Paypal take 10% of the proceeds through their crazy fee structure.  So I tried out 2 new selling avenues this time – The fredmiranda.com Buy & Sell forum, as well as good old craigslist.

Going through fredmiranda.com, you need to pony up a $25 annual subscription fee to be able to post photog gear for sale.  To me, this was a small price to pay (especially compared to the $80 plus that eBay would have taken from me had I sold through them).  At any given time, the fredmiranda forums see about 2000 photogs perusing it.  That’s pretty good exposure.  Plus, I figured it could be worthwhile should I decide to sell anything else within a year since the $25 fee allows you to sell as much as you want during the subscription period.

Craigslist is great because posting items for sale is free, and you are geared toward local pickup/cash exchange sales.  My only hesitation about posting through craigslist was due to some of the horror stories you read about on the web about scam artists and stuff.  But I know quite a few people that have had great luck with craigslist.  I guess it all comes down to making every effort to be vigilant and smart about dealing with potential buyers on this forum.

In the end, I found a really cool buyer through craigslist and sold the D90 to him.  Quick, easy, and cash in the pocket without any ridiculous fees.  I did get some interested buyers through fredmiranda.com as well.  However, I found that quite a few of them would say, “Hey I’m interested!”, but then you wouldn’t hear from them after responding.  I did eventually get one serious buyer through FM, however this was after I was set to sell to the craigslist contact.  Ah well.

Anyway, I ordered the D700 yesterday through B&H.  One of the things that I love about ordering from B&H is that living in NJ, you are able to get stuff from them tax-free and next day ground shipping.  As I type this, the D700 is on a UPS truck to be delivered today.  Can’t wait!

Not only am I looking forward to finally getting through this demo tomorrow, but I’m also super-excited to FINALLY have my new Nikon D300s & SB-900 arrive at my doorstep via UPS. Before ordering the D300s, I was torn whether to spring for a full-frame D700 or to just pick up another cropped sensor body. While I definitely have my sights set on a full-frame body in the near future, the D300s would serve my immediate needs much better. Not only does it match well with all the lenses that I use with my D90, but it is also a brand new body from Nikon that will hopefully see at least 2 years before a refresh. I’ve heard grumblings about a D700 refresh sometime in early 2010 anyway, so I figure I’ll sit tight for that to hopefully avoid potential gadget remorse.